The leader of Thailand’s election-winning reformist party says he is confident he will succeed in forming a coalition government.
Peta Lamjarvinarat says his Move Forward party has formed an alliance with seven other parties to secure 313 of the required 376 votes.
More than 36 percent of Thais voted to move on, rejecting nine years of military-backed rule.
But due to the setup of Parliament, the party is not guaranteed government.
Thailand’s parliament consists of 500 elected seats in the lower house and 250 unelected seats in the senate, which are appointed by the military.
There are fears that a military-appointed Senate could block the new administration, but PETA this week presented his party’s path to government as a democratic imperative to counter conservative opposition in the Senate.
“We’ve got momentum behind us,” he said at a joint press conference on Thursday, standing alongside party leaders in his alliance.
After its election victory on Sunday, Move Forward immediately approached the second most popular party, Pheu Thai, to lay the groundwork for a viable coalition.
Move Forward won 152 of the 500 lower house seats, while Pheu Thai won 141 seats.
After several party talks, the leader of Move Forward said on Thursday that they had reached an agreement on broad policy issues, which will form the basis of a new government administration.
He added: “In the lower house we have 313 votes which is enough in a normal democratic system, and we don’t need to look for more partners.”
The dramatic increase in support for the move, and the clear majority won by the two main opposition leaders, is widely interpreted as a rejection of the military-backed government by the Thai people since the 2014 coup. Is.
A 250-member Senate was created and appointed entirely by the then-military government and allowed to vote on the election of a new prime minister – which many Thai parties rejected as incompatible with democracy. was
Move Forward and its supporters have argued that if the Senate were to exercise this power, it would not only go against the expressed will of the people at the ballot box, but would represent the last gasp of the authoritarian system it has created. has rejected. Voters
A few senators have said this week they would support a coalition moving forward. Mr Peta’s coalition hopes to cross the super-majority threshold of 376 votes needed to form a government.
But other senators have refused to support him because of the party’s policy to reform the royal defamation law.
Mr Peta’s party had promised young Thai voters to reform laws that harshly punish criminals who criticize the royal family.
But the third-largest party, Bhumjaithai, which won 70 seats in the election, has said it will not support the planned reforms going ahead.
Bhumjaithai has been seen as a potential kingmaker in any new government. However, Move Forward has said it has not invited Bhumjaithai to join its coalition, arguing that its coalition already has a clear majority in the lower house.
Move Forward has worked to shift the weight of public sentiment to its side this week, after an election that ignited voter passion and hope.
Others have warned that if the military authorities revert to the old playbook of extraparliamentary intervention, it risks fueling an angry public backlash.
